Agenda p5

Josephine King remembers her first self-portrait and how it showed up out of nowhere. She was "really ill" with bipolar disorder, living alone in a flat in Amsterdam. "I was in psychosis. I was desperate, not at all well in my head. I thought, the only thing to do is a painting." She worked until a woman emerged against a brilliant pink background. This was the painting that launched five years of obsessive self-portraiture, framed with texts spelling out what it is to be manic depressive. About 80 terrific portraits are on show at London's Riflemaker gallery.

Discover p20

The Herbarium at Kew Gardens holds the finest collection of plants in the world. But, more than a museum, it is a crucial research centre that keeps tabs on how ecosystems are surviving. Juliette Jowit reports